News in brief

The worldwide appetite for waving an electronic stick in front of the TV while playing games such as The Legend of Zelda has helped to double profits at Nintendo - makers of the Wii console - for the first nine months of its financial year. The group, which yesterday reported net profits of ¥258.9bn (£1.2bn) to December, compared with ¥131.9bn (£622m) in the same part of 2006, has sold 20m Wiis worldwide. The healthy results were "completely down" to good sales of Wii and the handheld DS console, Yoshihiro Mori, Nintendo's senior managing director, said. Justin McCurry in Tokyo

Dolcis attracts around 40 potential buyers

Around 40 parties have expressed interest in buying the shoe retailer Dolcis, administrator KPMG said yesterday. Almost 500 jobs were axed and 89 stores and concessions closed after the business went into administration on Monday. KPMG said it was hopeful of finding a buyer and that 644 staff in the 96 remaining sites would keep their jobs. Dolcis traces its roots back to 1863, when John Upson began to sell his shoes from a street barrow in Woolwich market, London. It has been losing market share to firms like New Look and Primark in recent years. It was reportedly unable to pay its £2.5m rent bill last month. Press Association

Inflation fears as growth reaches 15-year high

Median pay growth reached a 15-year high of 3.7% in the last three months of 2007, the Industrial Relations Service pay awards survey shows today. This was up 0.3 percentage points on the previous quarter and driven by last year's high retail price inflation, on which all pay deals are based, the IRS said. Private sector pay continues to outpace the public sector. Over the year to December 2007, the median public sector pay rise stood unchanged at 2.5% while private sector pay remained at 3.5%. The figures are likely to add to the Bank of England's concerns that the new year wage rounds may push inflation higher. Angela Balakrishnan

China grows by 11.2% and closes on Germany

China's annual growth was 11.2% in the fourth quarter of 2007, a slight easing in a year that saw 11.4% growth in the country. But fast growth should continue, the Beijing government said yesterday, in a positive sign for the world economy amid worries about a US recession. A top official and economists warned that China, far from any danger of a slowdown, faces a risk of overheating as it tries to cool inflation, which was stuck at nearly decade-high levels in December. The full-year figure was the highest level since 1994 and put China close to overtaking Germany as the world's third-largest economy. Associated Press